Don Earl Parent Blog

April-Using Visual Supports At Home April is Autism awareness month so what better topic to discuss than using visual supports! Visual supports, such as, visual schedules are beneficial for children of all ages and abilities but are most commonly used with students on the  Autism spectrum. Using a visual schedule allows young children, especially those with limited verbal language to understand the daily expectations and routines. A visual schedule is made up of pictures in a child’s daily life. Using real pictures of the real people, places, and things in a child’s daily routine help them to organize and process expectations. Some children benefit from using a picture schedule to represent their entire day while others may benefit from smaller visual schedules used for specific times of their daily routine, such as, meal times. The great thing about picture schedules is you can make them as simple or as elaborate as you like. As long as it is benefiting the child. Involving th

March-Anxiety/Separation Anxiety Anxiety- is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Separation Anxiety- anxiety provoked in a young child by separation or the threat of separation from their mother. There are many signs, physically, emotionally, and behaviorally that your child might display indicating they are experiencing anxiety. For a detailed list of those symptoms visit the website below. https://www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/managing-feelings/stress-anxiety/signs-your-young-child-might-be-struggling-with-anxiety There many strategies available for adults incorporate with children experiencing anxiety. For example, creating clear expectations. This one seems to be the case when working with young children all around. Providing children experiencing anxiety with clear expectations allow them to take some of the worry out of the unknown.  Another strategy to use is to slow down.

February-Daily Routines Establishing daily routines are an important part of making early childhood learners successful both at home and in school. Routines do not need to be elaborate or take over your entire day. In fact, keeping routines simple and direct are more beneficial for young learners. Having daily routines provide young learners with the security of knowing what to expect. It eliminates the unknown and helps minimize behaviors. Most common routines start in the morning or evening. In my opinion, these are the parts of the day usually filled with the most stress for parents so setting simple, and direct expectations is important. For example, at bedtime first put on our pajamas, then brush our teeth, and then we get in bed and read two books. When we are finished we turn the lights out and go to sleep. Repeating this routine nightly becomes a routine everyone can follow. School is another place young learners learn routine. It can be a hard adjustment in the beginn